Canadian Entrepreneur Mentors Hamilton High School Students

HAMILTON, Ontario (May 9, 2018) – On Tuesday May 8th, Canadian businessman and entrepreneur Anthony Lacavera visited Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School as part of the widely successful Speak Up! high school mentorship program initiated by RBC Foundation and First Book Canada. Over 100 grade 12 students received advice from Lacavera about his experience as an entrepreneur and how he has navigated his successes and challenges after graduating from high school. Each student received a brand-new copy of Anthony Lacavera’s book How We Can Win to take home and share with their family.

“I really enjoyed speaking with the students of Sir John A. MacDonald Secondary School as part of First Book Canada’s programming. Their smart questions and enthusiasm are indicators that we have a great generation of future innovators and entrepreneurs coming up. I look forward to seeing what they do next,” said Anthony Lacavera.

This program emphasizes post-secondary school success through a combination of financial literacy and enriched reading skills, with the benefit of mentorship from a celebrated Canadian professional. This program is generously supported by the RBC Foundation.

“We are delighted to have Anthony Lacavera participating in this unique program,” said Tom Best, Executive Director of First Book Canada. “As a mentor and advisor, he has both an important and positive message for young people today.”

Anthony Lacavera is best known as the founder and CEO of Wind Mobile, which he sold for USD $1.3 billion after it grew to become Canada’s fourth largest wireless carrier. He founded Globalive in 1998 and serves as Chairman. Anthony is also the founder of Globalive Technology Partners, an investment company focused on commercializing machine intelligence and blockchain technology where he serves as Chairman and CEO.

A serial entrepreneur, he started his first business right out of university. As a venture capitalist, he has a significant stake in dozens of startups in Canada as well as the United States; as a mentor and investor, he’s heavily involved in our most successful accelerators and incubators, including MaRS, Creative Destruction Lab, the DMZ at Ryerson University and Next Canada. He is a regular television commentator and the author of How We Can Win.

About First Book Canada

First Book Canada provides new books to children in need, addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy – access to books. By making new, high quality books and educational resources available on an ongoing basis, First Book Canada is transforming the lives of children and elevating the quality of education in the country. Since 2009, First Book Canada has distributed over 6 million new books to hundreds of thousands of children in need across Canada. For more information, or to register for books, visit us at firstbookcanada.org and follow our latest news on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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First Book Canada believes a child’s education is their way out of poverty. We work with educators and partners to identify and remove the barriers to learning and resources, creating equal access to quality education and transforming the lives of kids in need.